The delegation of high level officials from the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination visited the USA and Canada on November 11-23, 2000, under the Program of ICWC Training Center - McGill University.

The ICWC delegation consisting of Abdukokhir Nazirov, Minister of Water Resources, Republic of Tajikistan; Nurullo Ashurov, First Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Republic of Tajikistan; Abdurakhim Jalalov, First Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Republic of Uzbekistan; Barataly Koshmatov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources of Kyrgyz Republic; Leonid Dmitriev, Director of Kazgiprovodkhoz Institute; Zair Jurabekov, Director of BVO "Zarafshan"; Makhmud Khamidov, Director of BVO "Syr Darya"; Yuldash Khudaybergenov, Director of BVO "Amu Darya"; and Victor A. Dukhovny, Director of SIC ICWC, took part in the trip and exchange of opinions with various water and environmental organizations of the USA and Canada.

Visit to the USA

During the visit to the USA the following organizations were visited:

"Riverside Technology Inc."

Irrigation district "North Colorado Water Conservation"

National Park "Rocky Mountains"

US Bureau of Reclamation

State Engineer Office of Colorado,

On the whole the trip was arranged well, but the information materials were submitted in proper detail only by the Office of Colorado State Engineer, which were marked by high professionalism and understanding of our concerns.

Meetings at the US Bureau of Reclamation were not arranged appropriately, and the information on the most interesting issues was not provided, even after several requests.

The information provided was fragmentary, not conforming to the level of the delegation of ministers and heads of basin river authorities. The information on many important issues of water management in the USA was not provided.The participants were not shown the water structures, systems, only a small dam in the national park "Rocky Mountains".

All these issues were submitted to USAID well beforehand, but unfortunately, the American Institute of Education treated the ICWC delegation as an ordinary event.

At the same time we would like to acknowledge with gratitude the sincere wish of RTI leaders (L.Brazer, T.Martin) and Mr. H. Simpson, Colorado State Water Engineer and his staff, to cover all the issues related to their activity and give the information on other problems, as far as possible.

Visit to Canada

During the visit to Canada the following organizations and places were visited:

Branch "National Water Resource Institute"

Prairie Rehabilitation Fertility Administration (PFRA)

Saskatchewan Irrigation and Diversification Corporation

Saskawater Office

Gardner system of dams and reservoirs

Saskawater pumping station for irrigation of 12,000 ha.

Hydroquebec - a governmental organization for maintenance, reconstruction and development of hydraulic structures in Quebec

Quebec Province Ministry of Agriculture

Quebec Province Ministry of Environment

Quebec Province Ministry of Industry

Hydroquebec structures and reclamation systems

McGill University

Canada Ministry of the Environment

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

Ministry of Justice of Canada

International Joint Commission of Canada and USA

The following conclusions can be made:

Canadian society is a wonderful example of combined regulating of demands and resources of the society, with regard to the environmental constraints and the need to restore the environment for future generations.

In this context water resources are one of the most important components of the ecological management.

Canadian practice in water and agriculture gives good examples of the following aspects:

combination of centralized and decentralized management;

consideration of local conditions and free choice of provincial and local decisions within the federal limits;

combination of co-financing with governmental support and participation;

respect for water and the environment as a whole;

participation of the general public in discussion, development and making the decisions in water management and agriculture;

development and governmental support of farmers, under the conditions of highly effective agriculture;